The world…is characterized by the subtle and relentless pressure it brings to bear upon us to conform to its values and practices. It creeps up on us little by little. What was once unthinkable becomes thinkable, then doable, and finally acceptable to society at large. Sin becomes respectable, and so Christians are no more than five to ten years behind the world in embracing most sinful practices.
The Discipline of Grace, NavPress, 1994, p. 202-203.
We may say that providence is God’s orchestrating all events and circumstances in the universe for His glory and the good of His people (Rom. 8:28).
The Providence of Jesus, Tabletalk, June 2008, p. 50, Used by Permission.
[God] is at work in all the circumstances of your life to bring out the good for you, even if you had never heard of Romans 8:28. His work is not dependent upon your faith. But the comfort and joy that statement is intended to give you is dependent upon your believing it, upon your trusting in Him who is at work, even though you cannot see the outcome of that work.
The Practice of Godliness, NavPress, 1996, p. 116. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com, All rights reserved.
Only one who has a strong desire to be holy will ever persevere in the painfully slow and difficult task of pursing holiness. There are too many failures. The habits of our old nature and the attacks of Satan are too strong for us to persevere unless the Holy Spirit is at work in us to create a desire for holiness. The Holy Spirit creates this desire, not only by showing us our sins, but also by showing us God’s standard of holiness. He does this through the Scriptures. As we read and study the Scriptures or hear them taught, we are captivated by the moral beauty of God’s standard of holiness.
Copied from The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges, © 1996, p. 74. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved.
Some temptations can best be overcome by fleeing (2 Timothy 2:22).
Copied from The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges, © 1996, p. 111-112. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved.
Our duty is found in the revealed will of God in the Scriptures. Our trust must be in the sovereign will of God, as He works in the ordinary circumstances of our daily lives for out good and His glory.
Trusting God, 1988, p. 114. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved.
Every time we say yes to temptation, we make it harder to say no the next time.
Copied from The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges, © 1996, p. 92. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved.
Confidence in the sovereignty of God in all that affects us is crucial to our trusting Him. If there is a single event in all of the universe that can occur outside of God’s sovereign control then we cannot trust Him. His love may be infinite, but if His power is limited and His purpose can be thwarted, we cannot trust Him.
Trusting God, 1988, p. 37. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved.
God can restrain not only people’s actions, but even their most deeply rooted desires. No part of the human heart is impervious to God’s sovereign but mysterious control.
Trusting God, 1988, p. 64. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved.
The same Christian activity can be either an expression of our own righteousness that we think earns favor with God, or it can be an expression of love and gratitude because we already have His favor through the righteousness of Christ.
Copied from The Gospel for Real Life by Jerry Bridges, © 2002, p. 124. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com, All rights reserved.
So while the Bible asserts both God’s sovereignty and people’s freedom and moral responsibility, it never attempts to explain their relationship.
Trusting God, 1988, p. 67. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved.
The war is over. The alienation and divine displeasure toward us because of our sin have been removed. We are no longer objects of wrath. We have peace with God whether we realize it or not. However, to the extent that we understand and believe the truth regarding justification, we will experience a subjective peace – that is, a sense of peace within our souls. We will know that we have been bought from a state of condemnation and the prospect of eternal judgment into a state of forgiveness and favor with God.
Copied from The Gospel for Real Life by Jerry Bridges, © 2002, p. 108. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved.
There is a vast difference between a struggling faith (Mk. 9:24)…and (a) stubborn unbelief (Mk. 3:3-6).
Jesus’ Healing Ministry, Tabletalk, April, 2008. Used by Permission.
As we grow in holiness, we grow in hatred of sin; and God, being infinitely holy, has an infinite hatred of sin.
Copied from The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges, © 1996, p. 28. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved.
Spiritual disciplines are provided for our good, not for our bondage. They are privileges to be used, not duties to be performed. To take off on a familiar quotation from Jesus, “Spiritual disciplines were made for man, not man for spiritual disciplines” (see Mark 2:27).
Transforming Grace, NavPress, 1991, p. 127. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved.
Pride, in relation to other people, is comparing ourselves with others and seeing ourselves as superior to them in some way – whether it be in character, conduct, or achievement.
Transforming Grace, NavPress, 1991, p. 202. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved.
To meditate on the Scriptures is to think about them, turning them over in our minds, and applying them to our life’s situations… The objective of our meditation is application – obedience to the Scriptures.
Copied from The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges, © 1996, p. 99-100. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved.
We need to be careful that we do not add our own man-made rules to the Scriptures. Some convictions that we hold dearly may be derived more from our particular Christian culture than derived from Scripture, and we need to learn to discern the differences. It is okay to have cultural convictions, but we should be careful that we do not elevate them to the same authority as Scripture. So much judgmentalism among Christians today occurs because we do this.
Jesus Challenges the Pharisees, Tabletalk, May 2008, p. 47, Used by Permission.
As you read or study the Scriptures and meditate on them during the day, ask yourself these three questions:
1. What does this passage teach concerning God’s will for a holy life?
2. How does my life measure up to that Scripture; specifically where and how do I fall short? (Be specific; don’t generalize).
3. What definite steps of action do I need to take to obey?
Copied from The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges, © 1996, p. 101. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved.
This is the way we develop conviction – by bringing God’s Word to bear on specific situations that arise in our lives and determining God’s will in that situation from the Word.
Copied from The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges, © 1996, p. 87. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved.
Human morality and submission to God’s law are entirely different in principle, though they may appear to be similar in outward appearance. Human morality arises out of culture and family training and is based on what is proper and expected in the society we live in. It has nothing to do with God except to the extent that godly people have influenced that society. Submission to God’s law arises out of a love for God and a grateful response to His grace and is based on a delight in His law as revealed in Scripture. When the societal standard of morality varies from the law of God written in Scripture, we then see the true nature of human morality. We discover that it is just as hostile to the law of God as is the attitude of the most hardened sinner.
Transforming Grace, NavPress, 1991, p. 108. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved.
Godliness is more than Christian character. It covers the totality of the Christian life and provides the foundation upon which Christian character is built.
The Practice of Godliness, NavPress, 1996, p. 7. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved.
Being under the law is the opposite of being under grace. Because of our sin against the law, being under law implies the wrath of God, whereas grace implies forgiveness and favor. Law implies a broken relationship with God, whereas grace implies a restored relationship with Him. So when Paul said we died to the law, he meant we died to that entire state of condemnation, curse, and alienation from God.
Transforming Grace, NavPress, 1991, p. 110. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved.
So often we try to develop Christian character and conduct without taking the time to develop God-centered devotion. We try to please God without taking the time to walk with Him and develop a relationship with Him. This is impossible to do.
The Practice of Godliness, NavPress, 1996, p. 14, www.navpress.com. Used by Permission.
It is hypocritical to pray for victory over our sins yet be careless in our intake of the Word of God.
Copied from The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges, © 1996, p. 75. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved.
Trials always change our relationship with God. Either they drive us to Him, or they drive us away from Him. The extent of our fear of Him and our awareness of His love for us determine in which direction we will move.
The Practice of Godliness, NavPress, 1996, p. 179. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved.
Too often today we listen to be entertained instead of instructed, to be moved emotionally rather than moved to obedience.
The Practice of Godliness, NavPress, 1996, p. 38, www.navpress.com, Used by Permission.
We must have conviction that it is God’s will that we seek holiness – regardless of how arduous and painful the seeking may be. And we must be confident that the pursuit of holiness results in God’s approval and blessing, even when circumstances make it appear otherwise.
Copied from The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges, © 1996, p. 142. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved.
God does deal with our sins, but only in such a way as for our good. He does not deal with us as our sins deserve, which would be punishment, but as His grace provides, which is for our good.
Transforming Grace, NavPress, 1991, p. 40. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved.
[We insist that God] must surely lead everyone as we believe He has led us. We refuse to allow God the freedom to deal with each of us as individuals. When we think like that, we are legalistic.
Transforming Grace, NavPress, 1991, p. 126. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved.
Discipline may be either corrective or remedial. It may be sent for the purpose of correcting some sinful attitude or action, or to remedy some lack in our character. In either case, it is administered by our heavenly Father in love, not in wrath. Jesus has already borne the wrath of God in our place, so all adversities that come to us, come because He loves us and designs to conform us to the likeness of His Son.
Transforming Grace, NavPress, 1991, p. 183. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved.
In…the instances where faith is mentioned (in Matthew 9), the object of faith was in Jesus’ ability to heal, not His will to heal. Today as we pray for the healing of our friends or loved ones who suffer severe illness or disease, we too should believe that God is able to heal, either directly or through conventional means. To say I have faith that God will heal is presumptuous since we do not know the mind of God, but to say God is able to heal is to exercise faith.
Jesus’ Healing Ministry, Tabletalk, April, 2008. Used by Permission.
The exercise of inner strength under the direction of sound judgment that enables us to do, think, and say the things that are pleasing to God.
The Practice of Godliness, NavPress, 1996. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved.
Prayer assumes the sovereignty of God. If God is not sovereign, we have no assurance that He is able to answer our prayers. Our prayers would become nothing more than wishes. But while God’s sovereignty, along with His wisdom and love, is the foundation of our trust in Him, prayer is the expression of trust.
Copied from Is God Really In Control? Trusting God in a World of Hurt by Jerry Bridges, copyright 2006, p. 69-70. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved.
We do not have the ability to enter the kingdom unless the Spirit of God gives us life through the new birth. We are born again, then, by a sovereign, monergistic (that is, the Spirit working alone) act of the Holy Spirit. Then, as a result of that new birth, we exercise the faith given to us, and enter the kingdom of God.
Copied from The Gospel for Real Life by Jerry Bridges, © 2002, p. 133. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
Bitterness arises in our hearts when we do not trust in the sovereign rule of God in our lives.
Copied from The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges, © 1996, p. 120. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
Uncontrolled temper is soon dissipated on others. Resentment, bitterness, and self-pity build up inside our hearts and eat away at our spiritual lives like a slowly spreading cancer.
The Practice of Godliness, NavPress, 1996, p. 141. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
We must not allow our emotions to hold sway over our minds. Rather, we must seek to let the truth of God rule our minds. Our emotions must become subservient to the truth.
Trusting God, 1988, p. 140. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
The object of our faith is not the mere content of the message, but the One whom the message is about.
Copied from The Gospel for Real Life by Jerry Bridges, © 2002, p. 106. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
Our reason, enlightened by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God, stands in the way of sin gaining mastery over us through our desires.
Copied from The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges, © 1996, p. 64. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
Complaining about the weather seems to be a favorite American pastime. Sadly, we Christians often get caught up in this ungodly habit in our society. But when we complain about the weather, we are actually complaining against God who sent us our weather. We are, in fact, sinning against God (see Numbers 11:1).
Trusting God, 1988, p. 96. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
The purpose of rejoicing is not so we can feel better emotionally (though that will happen). The purpose of joy is to glorify God by demonstrating to an unbelieving world that our loving and faithful heavenly Father cares for us and provides for us all that we need.
The Practice of Godliness, NavPress, 1996, p. 115. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
Grace is never cheap. It is absolutely free to us, but infinitely expensive to God… Anyone who is prone to use grace as a license for irresponsible, sinful behavior, surely does not appreciate the infinite price God paid to give us His grace.
Transforming Grace, NavPress, 1991, p. 134. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
Gentleness is an active trait, describing the manner in which we should treat others. Meekness is a passive trait, describing the proper Christian response when others mistreat us.
The Practice of Godliness, NavPress, 1996, p. 181. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
As used in Scripture, holiness describes both the majesty of God and the purity and moral perfection of His nature. Holiness is one of His attributes; that is, holiness is an essential part of the nature of God. His holiness is as necessary as His existence, or as necessary, for example, as His wisdom or omniscience. Just as He cannot but know what is right, so He cannot but do what is right.
Copied from The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges, © 1996, p. 22. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
Forgiving costs us our sense of justice. We all have this innate sense deep within our souls, but it has been perverted by our selfish sinful natures. We want to see “justice” done, but the justice we envision satisfies our own interests. We must realize that justice has been done. God is the only rightful administrator of justice in all of creation, and His justice has been satisfied. In order to forgive our brother, we must be satisfied with God’s justice and forego the satisfaction of our own.
The Practice of Godliness, NavPress, 1996, p. 207-208. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com, All rights reserved. Get this book!
Prayer is the most tangible expression of trust in God.
Trusting God, 1988, p. 81. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com, All rights reserved. Get this book!
The great antidote to anxiety is to come to God in prayer. We are to pray about everything. Nothing is too big for Him to handle, and nothing is too small to escape His attention.
The Practice of Godliness, NavPress, 1996, p. 159. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
[Sin] says to an absolutely holy and righteous God that His moral laws, which are a reflection of His own nature, are not worthy of our wholehearted obedience.
Transforming Grace, NavPress, 1991, p. 30. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
Habits are the thought and emotional patterns engraved on our minds. These internal habit patterns play just as forceful a role as external influences on our actions – in fact, perhaps more so.
Copied from The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges, © 1996, p. 132. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
To put to death the misdeeds of the body, then, is to destroy the strength and vitality of sin as it tries to reign in our bodies.
Copied from The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges, © 1996, p. 84. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
It is just as important to trust God as it is to obey Him. When we disobey God we defy His authority and despise His holiness. But when we fail to trust God we doubt His sovereignty and question His goodness. In both cases we cast aspersions upon His majesty and His character. God views our distrust of Him as seriously as He views our disobedience.
Trusting God, 1988, p. 18. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
Every day God patiently bears with us, and every day we are tempted to become impatient with our friends, neighbors, and loved ones. And our faults and failures before God are so much more serious than the petty actions of others that tend to irritate us! God calls us to graciously bear with the weaknesses of others, tolerating them and forgiving them even as He has forgiven us.
The Practice of Godliness, NavPress, 1996, p. 174. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
Five fatherly responsibilities that God has assumed toward His children:
1. God provides for us (Phil. 4:19).
2. God protects (Mt. 10:29-31).
3. God encourages us (Psm. 10:17).
4. God comforts us (2 Cor. 1:3-4).
5. God disciplines us (Heb. 12:10).
Copied from The Gospel for Real Life by Jerry Bridges, © 2002, p. 146. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
Humility, then, is a recognition that we are at the same time “worm Jacob” and a mighty threshing sledge – completely weak and helpless in ourselves, but powerful and useful by the grace of God.
Transforming Grace, NavPress, 1991, p. 201. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
God can and does work in the hearts and minds of rulers and officials of government to accomplish His sovereign purpose. Their hearts and minds are as much under His control as the impersonal physical laws of nature. Yet their every decision is made freely – most often without any thought or regard to the will of God.
Trusting God, 1988, p. 84. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
We abuse grace when, after sinning, we dwell on the compassion and mercy of God to the exclusion of His holiness and hatred of sin.
Copied from The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges, © 1996, p. 65. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
Both gentleness and meekness are born of power, not weakness. There is a pseudo-gentleness that is effeminate, and there is a pseudo-meekness that is cowardly. But a Christian is to be gentle and meek because those are Godlike virtues… We should never be afraid, therefore, that the gentleness of the Spirit means weakness of character. It takes strength, God’s strength, to be truly gentle.
The Practice of Godliness, NavPress, 1996, p. 181-182. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
Holiness is the perfection of all [God’s] other attributes. His power is holy power, His mercy is holy mercy, His wisdom is holy wisdom. It is His holiness more than any other attribute that makes Him worthy of our praise.
Copied from The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges, © 1996, p. 26. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
If we want proof of God’s love for us, then we must look first at the Cross where God offered up His Son as a sacrifice for our sins. Calvary is the one objective, absolute, irrefutable proof of God’s love for us.
Trusting God, 1988, p. 138. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com, All rights reserved. Get this book!
God’s grace is not given to make us feel better, but to glorify Him… Good feelings may come, or they may not, but that is not the issue. The issue is whether or not we honor God by the way we respond to our circumstances.
Transforming Grace, NavPress, 1991, p. 144-145. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
This is not make-believe. You are indeed guilty in yourself, but God no longer regards you as guilty, because the guilt of your sin has already been borne by Christ as your substitute. The sentence has been served. The penalty has been paid. To use Paul’s expression, you have died to sin’s guilt.
Copied from The Gospel for Real Life by Jerry Bridges, © 2002, p. 177. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
Because we are united by faith to [Jesus Christ] who is perfectly righteous, God accepts us as perfectly righteous. God does not resort to some kind of legal fiction, calling something righteous that is not. Rather, He declares us righteous on the basis of the real accomplished righteousness of Christ, imputed to us because of our union with Him.
Copied from The Gospel for Real Life by Jerry Bridges, © 2002, p. 103. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
Because we are sinful by nature, we have developed sinful patterns, which we call habits. Discipline is required to break any habit. If a boy has developed the wrong style of swinging a baseball bat, he cannot just decide to change instantly. He has developed a certain habit, and much discipline – much correction and training – is required to break that bad habit and develop a new one. In the same way, our patterns of disobedience to God have been developed over a number of years and are not broken easily or without discipline. Discipline does not mean gritting your teeth and saying, “I’ll not do that anymore.” Rather, discipline means structured, planned training. Just as you need a plan for regular Bible reading or study, so you need a plan for applying the Word to your life.
Copied from The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges, © 1996, p. 100-101. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
The Bible is full of God’s promises to provide for us spiritually and materially, to never forsake us, to give us peace in times of difficult circumstances, to cause all circumstances to work together for our good, and finally to bring us safely home to glory. Not one of those promises is dependent upon our performance. They are all dependent on the grace of God given to us through Jesus Christ.
Transforming Grace, NavPress, 1991, p. 71. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
In order to trust God, we must always view our adverse circumstances through the eyes of faith, not of sense. And just as the faith of salvation comes through hearing the message of the gospel (Romans 10:17), so the faith to trust God in adversity comes through the Word of God alone. It is only in the Scriptures that we find an adequate view of God’s relationship to and involvement in our painful circumstances. It is only from the Scriptures, applied to our hearts by the Holy Spirit, that we receive the grace to trust God in adversity.
Trusting God, 1988, p. 18. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
Patience does not ignore the provocations of others; it simply seeks to respond to them in a godly manner. It enables us to control our tempers when we are provoked and to seek to deal with the person and his provocation in a way that tends to heal relationships rather than aggravate problems. It seeks the ultimate good of the other individual, rather than the immediate satisfaction of our own aroused emotions.
The Practice of Godliness, NavPress, 1996, p. 171-172. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
God never pursues His glory at the expense of the good of His people, nor does He ever seek our good at the expense of His glory. He has designed His eternal purpose so that His glory and our good are inextricably bound together. What comfort and encouragement this should be to us. If we are going to learn to trust God in adversity, we must believe that just as certainly as God will allow nothing to subvert His glory, so He will allow nothing to spoil the good He is working out in us and for us.
Trusting God, 1988, p. 25. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
The faithful person is one who is dependable, trustworthy, and loyal, who can be depended upon in all of his relationships, and who is absolutely honest and ethical in all of his affairs.
The Practice of Godliness, NavPress, 1996, p. 147. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
We should take more seriously our responsibility to pray for the leaders of our government that they will make wise decisions. Although we may suspect that some of the more disastrous decisions are evidence of God’s judgment, we do not know that. We do know God has instructed us to pray for leaders. Our duty, then, is to pray for wise decisions, but to trust when foolish and harmful decisions are made.
Trusting God, 1988, p. 85. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
Our first priority in times of adversity is to honor and glorify God by trusting Him. We tend to make our first priority the gaining of relief from our feelings of heartache or disappointment or frustration. This is a natural desire, and God has promised to give us grace sufficient for our trials and peace for our anxieties (2 Corinthians 12:9, Philippians 4:6-7). But just as God’s will is to take precedence over our will (Jesus Himself said, “Yet not as I will, but as you will” – Matthew 26:39), so God’s honor is to take precedence over our feelings. We honor God by choosing to trust Him when we don’t understand what He is doing or why He has allowed some adverse circumstance to occur. As we seek God’s glory, we may be sure that He has purposed our good and that He will not be frustrated in fulfilling that purpose.
Trusting God, 1988, p. 52. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com, All rights reserved. Get this book!
Peace should be a hallmark of the godly person, first because it is a Godlike trait: God is called the God of peace several times in the New Testament. He took the initiative to establish peace with rebellious men, and He is the author of both personal peace as well as peace among men. Peace should be part of our character also because God has promised us His peace, because He has commanded us to let peace rule in our lives and relationships, and because peace is a fruit of the Spirit and therefore an evidence of His working in our lives.
The Practice of Godliness, NavPress, 1996, p. 155-156. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
God will never allow any action against you that is not in accord with His will for you. And His will is always directed to our good.
Trusting God, 1988, p. 71. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
The great God not only loves His saints, but He loves to love them.
Trusting God, 1988, p. 142. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com, All rights reserved. Get this book!
This is the amazing story of God’s grace. God saves us by His grace and transforms us more and more into the likeness of His Son by His grace. In all our trials and afflictions, He sustains and strengthens us by His grace. He calls us by grace to perform our own unique function within the Body of Christ. Then, again by grace, He gives to each of us the spiritual gifts necessary to fulfill our calling. As we serve Him, He makes that service acceptable to Himself by grace, and then rewards us a hundredfold by grace.
Transforming Grace, NavPress, 1991, p. 170. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
It seems the Bible goes out of its way to portray the kindness of God in stark contrast to man’s total undeservedness.
The Practice of Godliness, NavPress, 1996, p. 191. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
Just as the diamonds on a jeweler’s counter shine more brilliantly when set upon a dark velvet pad, so Christ’s redemptive work shines more brilliantly when contrasted with our sin and the consequent curse that was upon us.
Copied from The Gospel for Real Life by Jerry Bridges, © 2002, p. 86. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
Jesus said, “Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). We must honestly face the question, “Am I willing to give up a certain practice or habit that is keeping me from holiness?” It is at this point of commitment that most of us fail. We prefer to dally with sin, to try to play with it a little without getting too deeply involved.
Copied from The Pursuit of Holiness by Jerry Bridges, © 1996, p. 91. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
To be justified means more than to be declared “not guilty.” It actually means to be declared righteous before God. It means God has imputed or charged the guilt of our sin to His Son, Jesus Christ, and has imputed or credited Christ’s righteousness to us.
Transforming Grace, NavPress, 1991, p. 36. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
God’s plan and His ways of working out His plan are frequently beyond our ability to fathom and understand. We must learn to trust when we don’t understand.
Trusting God, 1988, p. 20. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
Patience is the ability to suffer a long time under the mistreatment of others without growing resentful or bitter.
The Practice of Godliness, NavPress, 1996, p. 168. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
Because you and I are in Christ Jesus, His glory and our good are linked together. Because we are united with Christ, whatever is for His glory is also for our good. And whatever is for our good is for His glory.
Trusting God, 1988, p. 144. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!
God wants us to be dependable even when it costs us. This is what distinguishes godly faithfulness from the ordinary dependability of secular society.
The Practice of Godliness, NavPress, 1996, p. 151. Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com. All rights reserved. Get this book!